and is, strictly speaking, no other than a very strong breath driven violently through a small aperture.

Heat is so extremely disagreeable to these animals that they are never seen during summer, except in the excavations of the rocks, amidst fragments of unmelted ice, or under the shade of hanging precipices, which face the north, and effectually keep off the rays of the sun. They drink but sparingly, and chew the cud in the intervals of feeding. Their agility is wonderful, as they will throw themselves down, across a rock, which is nearly perpendicular, and twenty or thirty feet in height, without a single prop to support their feet. Their motion has, indeed, rather the appearance of flying than of leaping. The Chamois hunters of the Alps are so fond of the occupation that it almost becomes a mania, and they will brave every danger in the pursuit of this animal.

tribe, hold in Europe the same place which is held by the antelope in other parts of the globe. The male quadrupeds of this tribe have solid and branched horns, which are renewed every year, and, when young, are covered with a very vascular skin, clothed with a fine velvety fur, that falls off on their having attained their full size. They are extremely active, inhabiting woods and sequestered situations; and, in fighting, they not only make use of their horns, but stamp furiously with their fore feet.

The Stag, Hart, or Red Deer, is one of those innocent and peaceable animals that seem formed to embellish the forest, and animate the solitudes of nature. His graceful make, his airy motion, and the ample branches that adorn rather than defend his head, added to his size, strength, and swiftness, render him one of the most elegant, if not one of the most useful of quadrupeds.

This animal is extremely delicate in the choice of his food, which consists partly of grass, and partly of the young branches and shoots of various trees. When satisfied with eating, he retires to the covert of some thicket, to chew the cud; but his rumination is performed with greater difficulty than that of the cow or sheep, and is attended with a sort of hiccup during the whole time it continues. His senses of hearing and smelling are extremely acute. The female brings forth about the end of May, or the beginning of June, and, in general, has only one young one at a time. It is a singular fact that the Stag is himself one of the numerous enemies of the fawn, and that the female is obliged to exert all her art to protect her young one from him.

VOL. I.

F

IN form and disposition the Fallow Deer resembles the stag; but it is smaller, less robust, and has broad and palmated instead of branched and round horns. The two species have, indeed, an antipathy for each other, and will neither breed together nor herd in the same place. The colour of the Fallow Deer is a brownish bay, whitish beneath, on the insides of the limbs, and under the tail. The term of their life is about twenty years, and they arrive at perfection in three. They are seldom found wild, being generally bred up in parks, and kept for the amusement and luxury of the great. They browse closer than the stag, and will feed on many vegetables which he rejects, but they are prejudicial among young trees, which they frequently strip too close for recovery. They continue almost in the same state through the whole year; though there are particular seasons when their flesh is chiefly in esteem.

The wish to possess some favourite spot often causes a herd of these animals to divide into two parties, and engage each other with equal ardour and obstinacy. On such occasions, the combatants are led

by the oldest and strongest deer of the flock; they attack with perfect order, fight with courage, retire or rally, as circumstances may require, and even renew the combat for several days; until, at length, the weaker party is compelled to relinquish the object for which it has been contending. In England there are two varieties of the Fallow Deer; the beautiful spotted kind, originally brought from Bengal, and the deep brown sort, introduced from Norway, by James I. and now common in many parts of this kingdom.

IN elegance of form, vivacity of disposition, and gracefulness of motion, the Roe-Buck much excels the stag and the fallow deer. It is the smallest of British deer, and is now nearly extinct in this island; the few that are left being chiefly confined to the Scottish highlands. His height at the shoulders is about two feet and a half; the length of his horns is from six to eight inches, and they are strong, upright, and divided towards the extremity into three points or branches. The length of the Roe-Buck seldom exceeds three feet. He is exceedingly fleet, and scarcely less sagacious. His mode of eluding pursuit proves him to be far more cunning than the stag; for, instead of continu

ing his flight straight forward, he confounds the scent by retracing his own track, and then making an enormous bound to one side; having done which he lies flat and motionless while the dogs and men pass by.

The Roe-Buck differs materially from the rest of the deer kind in its habits: for instead of assembling in herds, and evincing the utmost inconstancy, each resides with his favourite female and young ones; never admitting a stranger into the little community. Her maternal affection and solicitude are extremely strong, but notwithstanding all her exertions, the fawns are frequently found out and worried by dogs, or destroyed by some other enemy. She produces two fawns, usually a male and a female.

In Great Britain there are but two known varieties of this animal; the red, which is the larger sort, and the brown, with a spot behind, which is somewhat less: but in America the breed is extremely numerous, and the variety in equal proportion.

THIS useful animal, the general height of which is about four feet and a half, is to be found in most of